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A Comparative Study of the Two Translation Versions of Qiu Chuang Feng Yu Xi from the Perspective of Skopos Theory

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A Comparative Study of the Two Translation Versions of Qiu Chuang Feng Yu Xi from the Perspective of Skopos Theory Journal of Literature and Art Studies, July 2020, Vol. 10, No. 7, 531-537 doi: 10.17265/2159-5836/2020.07.001 D DAVID PUBLISHING A Comparative Study of the Two Translation Versions of Qiu Chuang Feng Yu Xi from the Perspective of Skopos Theory GAO Yufeng Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, 430070 China Hong Lou Meng is one of the most important works in Chinese classical novels, and the author, Cao Xueqin, gave his own understanding of the feudal society and his exclamation of the fickleness of the world in the novel. Up to now, the novel and the poems in the novel are still of high artistic value. Qiu Chuang Feng Yu Xi, as one of the most artistic and representative poems in the novel, has been translated into English by many translators. Among the translations, Yang Xianyi’s translation and David Hawkes’ translation have the highest artistic achievements. Yang Xianyi is a famous Chinese translator and David Hawkes is a world-renowned sinologist in Britain. Because of their distinct identities, their translation purposes and translation styles are totally different. Guided by German translator Hans Vermeer’s Skopos Theory, this paper investigates the prologues of the translations of Hong Lou Meng and the translators’ biographies. The findings indicate the respective translation purposes of Yang Xianyi and David Hawkes and their trade-off choices of translation methods. By means of objectively evaluation of the merits and demerits of the two translation versions of Qiu Chuang Feng Yu Xi, the rationality of existence of the translations in a specific cultural background is explained. It is proved that Skopos Theory is one of the general methods for the English translation of poems in Chinese classical novels. Keywords: skopos theory, Qiu Chuang Feng Yu Xi, translation purpose, translation method 1 Introduction 1.1 The Author and His Poetry Cao Xueqin, a great novelist of Qing Dynasty, was born in Jiangning, Jiangsu Province (now Nanjing, Jiangsu Province), and his ancestral home is Liaoyang, Shengjing Area (now Liaoyang, Liaoning Province). Cao Xueqin experienced a rich and romantic life in Jiangning in his early years. In the 6th year of the reign of Emperor Yongzheng (1728), Cao Xueqin moved to Beijing with his family after his family was confiscated for its crimes. During this period, Cao Xueqin completed the world-famous Chinese classical novel “Hong Lou Meng”. Cao Xueqin died in Beijing in the 28th year of the reign of Emperor Qianlong (1763). Cao Xueqin’s master work, Hong Lou Meng, is widely recognized as the peak of Chinese classical novels because of its large scale, rigorous structure, complicated plot, and vivid description. The poetry “Dai Bie Li, Qiu Chuang Feng Yu Xi” (hereinafter referred to as Qiu Chuang Feng Yu Xi) was written by Cao Xueqin, in the 45th chapter of the Chinese classical novel “Hong Lou Meng”. In the novel, the GAO Yufeng, Undergraduate Student, School of Foreign Languages, Wuhan University of Technology, China. 532 A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE TWO TRANSLATION VERSIONS OF QIU CHUANG FENG YU XI FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF SKOPOS THEORY poetry was written by Lin Daiyu in the style of Chun Jiang Hua Yue Ye, the poetry of Zhang Ruoxu. Surrounded by the word “qiu (autumn)”, the whole poetry shows the melancholy and sorrow of the helpless girl, Lin Daiyu. This poetry, linking scenery with emotion, is highly praised by many literary researchers. Zhou Ruchang, a famous scholar of Hong Lou Meng, believed that Qiu Chuang Feng Yu Xi had made the highest artistic achievements in three poems of Lin Dai Yu: Zang Hua Yin, Qiu Chuang Feng Yu Xi, and Tao Hua Xing. Among them, the last two poems were romantic and unrestrained, beautiful and sad, and far above the first one (Zhou, 2004). 1.2 The Translators: Yang Xianyi and David Hawkes Yang Xianyi, a famous Chinese translator, foreign literature researcher and poet, was born in Tianjin in 1915. In the early 1960s, Yang Xianyi and his wife Gladys Yang (a British scholar of Chinese culture), began to translate Hong Lou Meng into English, which was completed in 1974. Their translation, called A Dream of Red Mansions, had a huge impact. On November 23, 2009, Yang Xianyi died in Beijing at the age of 95. As a translation expert of Beijing Foreign Languages Press, Yang Xianyi actively responded to the Chinese government’s plan of “translating the classics into English”. Yang Xianyi once criticized Arthur Waley’s translation of The Book of Songs for portraying the peasants of China’s Zhou Dynasty as the medieval peasants of Europe, so that the translation reads more like an English medieval folk song than a poem about China (Ren, 1993, p. 34). Yang Yi, Yang Xianyi’s sister, once pointed out that Yang Xianyi and Gladys Yang had translated many classics, not because of their interests, but because they thought it was necessary to introduce China’s cultural heritage to the outside world, and they thought foreigners should know how rich China’s cultural heritage is (Yang, 1986, p. 41). Therefore, it can be found that, in the process of translating Hong Lou Meng into English, Yang Xianyi always aimed at exporting national cultural characteristics and establishing national image. David Hawkes, a world-renowned sinologist, was born in east London in 1923. In 1970, David Hawkes resigned his job at University of Oxford and devoted himself to the English translation of Hong Lou Meng. David Hawkes spent 10 years translating the first 80 chapters of Hong Lou Meng, while his son-in-law, John Minford, a sinologist, translated the last 40 chapters. The translation, called The Story of the Stone, had a huge impact. David Hawkes died on July 31, 2009, aged 86. According to David Hawkes, the translator is responsible for the author, the text and the reader, and the three are often hard to reconcile (Hawkes, 1977, p. 20). David Hawkes once sighed, “If I could give the reader one percent of the pleasure I had in reading this Chinese novel, it would be worth living.” (Hawkes, 1973, p. 46 ). Obviously, to make the English translation of Hong Lou Meng acceptable better to the recipient in the target language and cultural background, has become the translation purpose of David Hawkes. 2 Overview of Skopos Theory Skopos Theory was proposed by German translation theorist Hans Vermeer in the 1970s and was introduced to China by domestic scholars in the 1980s. The word “skopos” is Greek, meaning “purpose”. Hans Vermeer believes that translation is an action with a certain purpose. The purpose is determined by the initiator of the translation action, while the way to achieve the purpose is determined by the translator, so the translator in the translation process is crucial (Vermeer, 2000, p. 221). After Hans Vermeer, Christiane Nord A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE TWO TRANSLATION VERSIONS OF QIU CHUANG FENG YU XI FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF SKOPOS THEORY 533 systematically summarized the viewpoints of Functional Translation Theory and proposed “function and loyalty” as a supplement to Skopos Theory (Nord, 2001). The use of Skopos Theory should conform to three rules: Skopos Rule, Coherence Rule, and Fidelity Rule. The translator’s translation strategy must be determined by the purpose or the function of the translation, which is called “Skopos Rule”. While paying attention to the function of the translation, Skopos Theory also emphasizes the readability of the translation in the target language environment, namely “Coherence Rule”, and the inter-textual coherence between the translation and the original, namely “Fidelity Rule”. 3 Comparative Analysis of the Two Translation Versions Based on Skopos Theory 3.1 In Wording According to different translation purposes, Yang Xianyi and David Hawkes adopted different wording methods in the English translations of Qiu Chuang Feng Yu Xi. In the translations of the following four lines and the title of the poetry, Yang Xianyi and David Hawkes obviously adopted different wording methods. This part will take the following two examples as the analysis objects: Example (1) Source Text: 泪烛摇摇爇短檠，牵愁照恨动离情。 Yang Xianyi’s Version: Guttering on its stick, the candle sheds tears of wax, evoking the grief of separation, its pain. David Hawkes’ Version: The candle weeps down to its socket low, and my heart weeps and desolation feels. “泪烛” is a classic image in Chinese classical poetry, and is often used to create lonely and sad scenes. In the translation of these two lines, in order to better introduce Chinese traditional culture to the west, Yang Xianyi chose the method of literal translation, using “guttering” and “tears” to depict the scene of “泪烛摇摇”, which is faithful to the original. Obviously, Yang Xianyi’s translation successfully exports national cultural characteristics to the west. By contrast, David Hawkes chose the method of free translation, using the word “weeps”, to depict the scene of a candle melting into tears and a woman weeping over the candle, which is more acceptable to the audience in the target language and cultural background, and more creative than Yang Xianyi’s translation. Furthermore, Yang Xianyi translated these two lines in the third person, whereas David Hawkes translated these two lines in the first person. David Hawkes used the word “my” with great empathy. Obviously, in the translations of these two lines, both Yang Xianyi and David Hawkes chose the appropriate wording methods based on their respective translation purposes under the guidance of Skopos Rule. Example (2) Source Text: 罗衾不奈秋风力，残漏声催秋雨急。 Yang Xianyi’s Version: The autumn wind, through silken quilts strikes chill, her water-clock the autumn rain spurs on. David Hawkes’ Version: The wind’s chill strikes through quilt and counterpane, the rain drums like a mad clock in my ears.
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